Ronald Charles Purcell (October 5, 1932 – September 7, 2011) was an American guitarist, with degrees from the

Los Angeles Conservatory of Music LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...

and

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge), is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. With a total enrollment of 36,848 students (as of Fall 2024), it has the ...

. He was Professor Emeritus of the Department of Music at

and Director of the International Guitar Research Archive, considered one of the finest guitar archives in the world. His major teachers included

Andrés Segovia Andrés Segovia Torres, 1st Marquis of Salobreña (21 February 1893 – 2 June 1987), was a Spanish virtuoso classical guitarist. Many professional classical guitarists were either students of Segovia or students of Segovia's students. Segovia ...

Emilio Pujol Emilio Pujol Vilarrubí (or ''Emili''; 7 April 1886 – 15 November 1980) was a Spanish composer, guitarist and a leading teacher of the classical guitar. Biography Emili Pujol was born in the little village of Granadella just outside Lleida, S ...

, Macario Santiago Kastner, Alirio Diaz and

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (3 April 1895 – 16 March 1968) was an Italian composer, pianist and writer. He was known as one of the foremost guitar composers in the twentieth century with almost one hundred compositions for that instrument. In ...

, whose ''Hommage to Purcell'', Op. 170, No. 38 is dedicated to him.

Early life and career

Purcell was born in

Santa Clara, California Santa Clara ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Clare of Assisi, Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities and towns i ...

. He studied music at the

, earning a (

Bachelor of Music A Bachelor of Music (BMus; sometimes conferred as Bachelor of Musical Arts) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. The degree may be awarded for performance, music ed ...

degree in 1960, and

, graduating from CSUN (then known as San Fernando Valley State College) with a master's degree in 1970. Purcell joined the faculty at CSUN in 1971 and taught until his retirement in 2006. He produced recordings with Klavier Records and El Maestro Records and published two books and numerous performance editions with Chanterelle, Warner/Chappell (formerly

Belwin-Mills Alfred Music is an American music publishing company. Founded in New York in 1922, it is headquartered in Van Nuys, California, with additional branches in Miami, New York, Germany, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. History In New York City ...

) and editions with

Mel Bay Melbourne Earl Bay (February 25, 1913 – May 14, 1997), known professionally as Mel Bay, was an American musician and publisher best known for his series of music education books. His '' Encyclopedia of Guitar Chords'', first published in 197 ...

Publishing Co. including the complete works of

Miguel Llobet Miguel Llobet Solés (18 October 187822 February 1938) was a classical guitarist, born in Barcelona, Spain. Llobet was a renowned virtuoso who toured Europe and Americas, America extensively. He made well known arrangements of Catalan folk son ...

and works by

Laurindo Almeida Laurindo José de Araújo Almeida Nóbrega Neto (2 September 1917 – 26 July 1995) was a Brazilian guitarist and composer in classical, jazz, and Latin music. He was one of the pioneers in the creation of bossa nova. Almeida was the firs ...

. Purcell wrote many scholarly journal articles, as well as books on

Andres Segovia Andres or Andrés may refer to: *Andres, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois, US *Andres, Pas-de-Calais, a commune in Pas-de-Calais, France *Andres (name) *Hurricane Andres * "Andres" (song), a 1994 song by L7 See also ...

and Vahdah Olcott-Bickford. He served as the first president and later as a board member for the

Guitar Foundation of America The Guitar Foundation of America (GFA) is an American classical guitar nonprofit organization that was founded in 1973 at the National Guitar Convention sponsored by the American String Teachers Association. The foundation offers various ser ...

(GFA) and as editor for the

American String Teachers Association The American String Teachers Association (ASTA) is a professional organization for bowed string music teachers based in the United States. It is the largest organization in the U.S. for string teachers. ASTA serves teachers and students in all are ...

, Guitar Division, ASTA Journal. He was the chairman of the board of directors for the American Guitar Society and director of the International Guitar Research Archives (IGRA), where he collected thousands of scores and archival materials. Purcell was elected vice president to the board of directors for the Augustine Foundation in New York City.

Personal life

His first wife was Joanne B. Purcell, a professor of romance languages at the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

until her death from cancer in 1984. He married Beth Purcell in 1985. Purcell had a son and two daughters, along with two stepchildren.

Death

Purcell died on September 7, 2011, at the age of 78 at his home in

Sherman Oaks, California Sherman Oaks (founded in 1927) is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles, California within the San Fernando Valley region. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density ...

Legacy

An annual student fellowship and scholarship is given in Purcell's memory at

. The International Guitar Research Archives (IGRA), held in the University Library at

, have grown since his death, with recent acquisitions of the

Reginald Smith Brindle Reginald Smith Brindle (5 January 1917 – 9 September 2003) was a British composer and writer. Early life Smith Brindle was born in Cuerdon, Lancashire, to Robert and Jane Smith Brindle. He began learning the piano at the age of six, and late ...

collection, the

archive, and many others.

Honors

*Chairman, Board of Directors, American Guitar Society. *Founder and Director, International Guitar Research Archive. (https://web.archive.org/web/20110719135326/http://library.csun.edu/igra/) *Vice President, Board of Directors, Augustine Foundation, NYC. *Former President and board member,

*Former Editor, '' ASTA Journal'', American String Teachers Association, Guitar Division,

References

External links

International Guitar Research Archive, California State University, Northridge
{{DEFAULTSORT:Purcell, Ron American classical guitarists American male guitarists California State University, Northridge faculty 1932 births 2011 deaths People from Santa Clara, California 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American classical musicians